Tales of Symphonia Story, Sylvarant Chronicles (1)

QUIZ START: Last time, Kratos had told you that he protected you because it was his job to do so. Hearing him say that made you feel hurt; and he realized what he had said. You left before he could explain himself, and he decided that he needed to talk to you.

You make camp for the night with the mountains, which guarded the Tower of Mana, visible in the distance. You moved away from camp, and sat in the grass to watch the sun dip down to the horizon, and slowly begin to hide behind the land. Your mind wanders back to what Kratos told you....
You weren't exactly sure why what Kratos had said made you feel so bad, but, never the less, it did. *I guess he actually doesn't...care...* you think dejectedly. You listened to light footsteps approach, and come to a stop behind you.
"Aura...." you turn back, hearing Kratos say your name,
"Hey, Kratos..." you greet, turning your head back to the sunset,
"Ah...." he paused, "...May I sit?"
"Yeah...sure." you respond. He took the space next to you, and started,
"Listen. About what I said earlier....It's--"
"You protected me because it was your job. It...it's fine..."
"...That is Not why I protected you," he corrected, "And from your tone of voice... it doesn't sound fine." you tun to look at him, "I protected you...because I didn't want to see you hurt. I--... I'm sorry about what I said earlier." you smile slightly. You leaned against his arm, wrapping your arms around his and nuzzling your head against his shoulder, "Ah...?" he stiffened.
"It's okay." you assure softly. He sighed quietly, you felt him relax in your hug. You pull away and scratch the back of your head lightly,
"Um, heh, sorry." your cheeks had become a light shade of red. Kratos chuckled softly,
"...It's alright."

The next day you continued on your way. You arrived at the Tower of Mana after a few hours of walking. Raine quickly dashed up the steps, smiling eagerly all around,
"Marvelous!" she exclaimed happily, "So this is the Tower of Mana...built to gaze upon the Tower of Salvation!"
"Yes. I think it is." Colette agreed with a small nod. *...* a tiny, tiny shock of pain twinged through your head for a moment. This place looked familiar too...
"What's that?" Lloyd asked curiously,
"Honestly, Lloyd! We studied it in class before!!" Genis told him,
"It's a tower that was used as a temple by the Church of Martel to offer prayers to the Tower of Salvation." the Chosen explained, "Although, it was closed a long time ago since monsters started appearing inside."
"I simply must go inside..." Raine decided,
"According to the Book of Regeneration, it's very likely that this is a seal." Colette voiced,
"But there isn't an oracle stone." you put in, looking around the entrance to the tower,
"...Hmm. At any rate, let us proceed further." Kratos suggested, "Perhaps we may find more inside." Raine pulled the large key from her pocket that Clara had dropped back in Hima,

After stepping inside you found that the entrance was a very tall room,
"Wow, that's a lot of books!" Genis said, looking at the walls of the room. Each wall was lined with bookshelves, all of them packed with books.
"Oh! Just think of all the knowledge contained within those books!" Raine sighed happily,
"Hey!" Lloyd exclaimed, running to the center of the room. "It's an oracle stone!"
"So it was inside this time." you say,
"It's just as written in the Book of Regeneration." the Professor said "This is a seal! Colette if you would, please?"
"Yes, Professor." Colette put her hand on the stone as she asked. You waited for something to happen...perhaps like the door on the other side of the room opening. Three circular pads around the Oracle Stone flashed.
"Mm?" you mumble, looking at the pads on the floor, *I've seen that before...*
"It didn't open." Lloyd commented,
"No. Look at that magic circle." Kratos instructed,
"Marvelous!" Raine exclaimed, running to the circles, "This apparatus has awoken due to the oracle stone."
"So we just need to do something with that apparatus." Genis concluded.
"So it would seem." Kratos agreed. Raine inspected one of the pads crucially,
"This looks interesting..." she commented, "Lloyd, stand on that blue circle." she instructed,
"What? Uh, okay."
"Genis, you go to that one."
"Okay." Raine herself then stood on the last on. Once they were all in place, the stone door across the room slid open with a low grinding noise.
"Oh!" exclaimed Genis and Lloyd in unison.
"Wow!" Colette commented,
"Wow! It opened, Professor!" Lloyd congratulated, stepping off of the circle. However, once he was off of the path, the door slid shut again, "Huh?" he turned to the door, confused, "What the?"
"It seems that it won't open without three people on these circles..." Raine mumbled, looking at the door,
"Which means that three, or four, of us must remain here." Kratos commented, "It's dangerous, but we have no choice."
"Yes, we wouldn't want the door to be closed when we come back out." Raine agreed with a nod, "Then Lloyd, choose three or four people, other than Colette, to remain here."
"Me? Well, okay."
"...Does Raine have a split personality?" asked Sheena.
"I'm sorry...She's alittle strange, but she's a good person at heart." Genis told her.
"Colette...are you alright?" asked Lloyd, noticing Colette's expression,
"Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm fine." she responded with a small smile,
"...Okay." he agreed reluctantly.

"Aura." asked Kratos while Lloyd was thinking,
"Hm?" you turn towards him, "Yes?"
"Do you remember any of the inside of this tower? I assumed, upon entering, you would go into another trance, as you have the past temples. But..."
"You're right." Raine agreed,
"Um...hm..." you look around curiously, walking to the stone door that hadn't opened even when Raine, Genis and Lloyd stood on the three pads. You rest your hand on the door. "I remember this door opening. And a series of rooms behind it...But..." you look back at everyone "That's...that's all."
"So you don't really remember anything from here?" asked Sheena.
"Not really...no."
"Okay." Lloyd announced. "Ive decided." In the end, Lloyd decided to take Genis with him and Colette; leaving you, Raine, Sheena and Kratos down on the bottom floor.

Lloyd and the other departed through the door and up the stairs, you were left to wait. Raine, Sheena, and Kratos were waiting patiently on the pads. Your eyes turned curiously towards the bookshelves,
"Professor." you ask, moving towards the bookshelves,
"Yes?" she asked,
"What was the name of that book you needed? B-something?"
"Boltzmans book." she corrected,
"I'll try to find it while the others are gone."
"Good idea." Kratos commented, "It could save us time later should we need to make a hasty exit." you nod and begin looking along the shelves *...Where did all of these books come from, anyway?* you wonder, walking to the next bookshelf. You had to move over to the other side of the room before you found a thick, leather bound book with 'Boltzman's Healing' written on the spine,
"Ah--Found it!" you say, pulling it from the shelf. You give it to the Professor who immediately started flipping through it excitedly,
"Thank you, Aura!" she thanked enthusiastically, "This is truly amazing! Boltzmans healing techniques!" suddenly there was a low rumble,
"What's this sound...?" Kratos mumbled curiously, looking around for it source. Soon the noise stopped, leaving you all confused.